This invention relates to a block former for the production of blocks of cheese, comprising an upright drainage column with a feed opening for curd particles at the upper end, a closed casing and a perforated inner tube, there being an annular space between the casing and the inner tube, and with a cutting-off device at the lower end for cutting off blocks of cheese and a discharge device for discharging a cut-off block of cheese after a block forming cycle, as well as vacuum means for filling under reduced pressure the inner tube with curd particles via the feed opening and creating a vacuum in the annular space, and to a method for the production of blocks of cheese.
Such a block former is known from practice and is described, for instance, in the brochure entitled xe2x80x9cCheddar linexe2x80x9d with publication number PB 63003-94 of Tebel-MKT and in the brochure entitled xe2x80x9cBlock Formerxe2x80x9d with publication number PB 62993-94 of Tebel-MKT.
Dutch patent application 7903152 also discloses a block former designed as a tower.
The operation of the known block former is as follows. At the upper end of the tower, using vacuum transport air, curd, in the form of cubes, slices, flakes and the like, generally referred to as chips, is fed to the tower. At the bottom end, the column is closed by means of a horizontal guillotine blade or optionally a different suitable closing element. When the tower is full, the feed opening is closed off by means of a valve or the like and a vacuum is created in the tower. The curd is consolidated in the tower and also drained under the influence of vacuum and static pressure.
At set times the tower is opened at the bottom, in that the guillotine blade is moved aside. Also, in a chamber under the tower, the so-called pre-pressing chamber, a vacuum is then created and the tower itself is aerated. As a consequence of the differential pressure thus obtained and, of course, as a consequence of the weight of the pillar of curd, the pillar of curd descends while being supported and guided at the underside by a hydraulically or pneumatically driven supporting platform. To promote the release of the pillar of curd, the inner tube flares slightly in downward direction. As soon as the pillar of curd has descended over a predetermined distance, the lower portion of the pillar of curd is severed with the aid of the guillotine blade and the underside of the tower is closed off again. Then the severed block is prepressed between the supporting platform and the blade, while concurrently new curd chips are fed to the top of the tower. After pre-pressing, the block of cheese obtained is discharged from the pre-pressing chamber to be packaged and processed further.
One of the problems in increasing the capacity of such a block former is that in the case of a shorter cycle time, which accompanies a greater capacity, there is insufficient time available to feed sufficient curd to the tower.
The object of the invention is to solve the problem outlined and generally to make available a simple method and block former, respectively, with an increased production capacity. To that end, according to the invention, a block former of the above-described type is characterized in that the column is divided into an upper and a lower part by separating means, in such a manner that different pressures can prevail simultaneously in the upper and the lower part during any moment of a cycle.
A method of the above-described type is characterized according to the invention in that after the cut-off of a block of cheese at the lower end and the reclosure of the column at the lower end, in the upper part of the column curd particles are sucked in to fill the inner tube, while simultaneously a higher vacuum is created in the lower part of the column, and that after the filling phase the upper part and the lower part of the column are brought into communication with each other so that in the upper part also a higher vacuum is created.